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150 Pagosa St. Pagosa, Co.
150 Pagosa St. Pagosa, Co.
Featured Artist
I knew Cynthia Lindsay for several years before she joined the Co-op. She has become of one of my dearest friends and I felt like I could write her story without an interview. But I didn’t dare, you’ll understand when I tell you how this friendship began.
The first time she came to one of my art workshops, I knew this was a person who would not be taught easily. Wanting to show her how to paint a tree, I grabbed one of her brushes and proceeded to work on her painting. She came unglued, “Don’t touch my painting,” she screamed and I knew she meant it.
Wow! I thought I was just helping her. After trying to tell Cynthia how to do it, I declared to her in front of the class, “You have an unteachable spirit.” The class choked with horror. They were waiting to see what was going to happen next. Would it be a knock-down-drag-out fight? The friendship was preserved by sheer grace. Cynthia was the first artist I called to join the Co-op. I knew she would be a great asset to the Co-op.
Cynthia can do just about anything and she does everything well. She has taught herself how. I asked her to name some of the things she has done and is doing and she started naming them. “I like to sew clothes, bags and purses, I do quilted picture art, paint on furniture, jewelry, ceramics, carvings in clay, refinish furniture and re-upholster and of course, stained glass.”
The first time she came to one of my art workshops, I knew this was a person who would not be taught easily. Wanting to show her how to paint a tree, I grabbed one of her brushes and proceeded to work on her painting. She came unglued, “Don’t touch my painting,” she screamed and I knew she meant it.
Wow! I thought I was just helping her. After trying to tell Cynthia how to do it, I declared to her in front of the class, “You have an unteachable spirit.” The class choked with horror. They were waiting to see what was going to happen next. Would it be a knock-down-drag-out fight? The friendship was preserved by sheer grace. Cynthia was the first artist I called to join the Co-op. I knew she would be a great asset to the Co-op.
Cynthia can do just about anything and she does everything well. She has taught herself how. I asked her to name some of the things she has done and is doing and she started naming them. “I like to sew clothes, bags and purses, I do quilted picture art, paint on furniture, jewelry, ceramics, carvings in clay, refinish furniture and re-upholster and of course, stained glass.”
“I started working in stained glass in 1984. I learned from a man giving lessons. I built a little frog and from there I taught myself. I learn better on my own. I read magazines and art books and I see how it’s done. I feel like anything I want to do, I can do. There are things that don’t interest me and I don’t do them, but if I want to do it, I will at least try it.”
“I feel like a fake,” Cynthia says. “I’m just having fun doing these things. I’ve never felt like an artist. I can just do things. I would have a hard time narrowing all the things I do to three. I see things, it just spins off and I try something different.”
I asked Cynthia. “What about all the art supplies and tools. You’ve got to have a lot of money into it, just to get set up. How do you justify the expense?”
“I get upset with myself when I buy all this stuff and it doesn’t pan out, but sooner or later I use it. I need to say no to myself. It might take a few years but I usually get my money back.”
“The important thing is to create what we want to do. That’s what drives me. Ideas come to me and I am driven to figure them out and to do it differently.
“I feel like a fake,” Cynthia says. “I’m just having fun doing these things. I’ve never felt like an artist. I can just do things. I would have a hard time narrowing all the things I do to three. I see things, it just spins off and I try something different.”
I asked Cynthia. “What about all the art supplies and tools. You’ve got to have a lot of money into it, just to get set up. How do you justify the expense?”
“I get upset with myself when I buy all this stuff and it doesn’t pan out, but sooner or later I use it. I need to say no to myself. It might take a few years but I usually get my money back.”
“The important thing is to create what we want to do. That’s what drives me. Ideas come to me and I am driven to figure them out and to do it differently.
The Co-op also drives me. I didn’t put my art in the Co-op to sell, it just sold and that gives me the incentive to keep trying new things.
Cynthia’s husband John is her biggest supporter. They started coming to Pagosa in 1995. They built their house and moved here permanently in 2004. They recently finished a studio just for all of Cynthia’s art projects.
“John is an inventor in his own right. He sees a need when I am trying to do something and he will invent something for me to work with. He probably wishes that I didn’t do all the things I do, but he supports me anyway.”
When I look at Cynthia’s stained glass jewelry boxes and hanging panels in the Co-op, I am amazed at the things Cynthia can do and has learned from her first beginning of making a little frog.
She is my painting buddy and a great friend. We still laugh at our first encounter when I tried to teach her how to paint. Once in a while Cynthia ask my advice when she doesn’t know where to go on her painting but one thing I have learned, I don’t touch her painting.
Cynthia, you’re not a fake. You’re one of the most honest people I know. You’re an artist with both feet on the ground which is unusual. I have enjoyed singing your praises.
Cynthia’s husband John is her biggest supporter. They started coming to Pagosa in 1995. They built their house and moved here permanently in 2004. They recently finished a studio just for all of Cynthia’s art projects.
“John is an inventor in his own right. He sees a need when I am trying to do something and he will invent something for me to work with. He probably wishes that I didn’t do all the things I do, but he supports me anyway.”
When I look at Cynthia’s stained glass jewelry boxes and hanging panels in the Co-op, I am amazed at the things Cynthia can do and has learned from her first beginning of making a little frog.
She is my painting buddy and a great friend. We still laugh at our first encounter when I tried to teach her how to paint. Once in a while Cynthia ask my advice when she doesn’t know where to go on her painting but one thing I have learned, I don’t touch her painting.
Cynthia, you’re not a fake. You’re one of the most honest people I know. You’re an artist with both feet on the ground which is unusual. I have enjoyed singing your praises.
Cynthia Lindsay Feb 2009